Gisele Bündchen opens up about divorce from Tom Brady: 'We just wanted different things'

Gisele Bündchen is clearing up the rumors about her divorce from former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, considering the split a "death and a rebirth."

The couple publicly announced they would be parting ways in October, dissolving 13 years of marriage. Brady wrote in a statement that he and Bündchen arrived at their decision "amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together" and that they would work together as parents.

In an interview with Vanity Fair cover story published Wednesday, the supermodel opened up about the divorce and denied "very hurtful" rumors that Brady's off-again and on-again retirement from football was the root of the dissolution.

"Listen, I have always cheered for him, and I would continue forever," Bündchen said. "If there’s one person I want to be the happiest in the world, it’s him, believe me. I want him to achieve and to conquer."

Gisele Bündchen denies rumors that Tom Brady's career led to divorce

Despite being frequently photographed in football arenas cheering Brady on at games,  Bündchen said tabloids "made me somebody who is against football" amid the divorce news.

"Are you kidding me? I learned about it! I used to joke that I was going to be able to be the ref because I’ve watched so many games. And I loved it," she said.

She added that their divorce is "one piece of a much bigger puzzle" and it isn't "so black and white.”

Bündchen also denied rumors published by the Daily Mail on March 16 that since the split she had been dating Brady's friend, real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer.

"I have zero relationship with him in any way," she said. "He’s Tom’s friend, not my friend … I wouldn’t be with his friend. I wouldn’t be with this guy."

Bündchen, Tom Brady divorce spurred from wanting 'different things'

Bündchen and Brady share two children, Benjamin, 13, and Vivian, 10. They also have a third child from Brady's previous relationship with "Blue Bloods" actress Bridget Moynahan, Jack, 15. The model says when she and Brady first began their relationship in their 20s they were in a place of growing together.

"It’s tough because you imagine your life was going to be a certain way, and you did everything you could," she said.

However, she said their relationship changed over time and that the reality of their divorce wasn't an episodic situation, but instead an event that took "years to happen."

"We realize that we just wanted different things, and now we have a choice to make. That doesn’t mean you don’t love the person," she said. "It just means that in order for you to be authentic and truly live the life that you want to live, you have to have somebody who can meet you in the middle."

Bündchen hopes to focus on wellness, motherhood in rebirth

While Brady explores his second retirement from football, Bündchen's rebirth lies in her focus on wellness as she spends time in both Miami and Costa Rica, where she said she's always wanted to raise her children.

"I want to do things that I believe are an extension of me,” she said adding that modeling "is not an extension" of herself but is instead "being an actress in a silent movie.”

She continued: "I don’t want to be a character in anybody else’s movie. And when I do that, it doesn’t feel as comfortable for me anymore."

Bündchen says she and Brady will continue to co-parent in Miami, a city that "works" because it's easy to fly there to Brazil where her family lives and plans to use her relationship with Brady's ex, Moynahan, to structure her new phase of life with Brady as they have " a great relationship."

"We’re not playing against each other. … We are a team,” she said.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady divorce: Model opens up for Vanity Fair